Thank you 2016 for Joel Embiid

Sixers C Joel Embiid celebrating a 3.  Image courtesy: bleacherreport.com

Dear 2016,
        
         For us Philadelphia Sports fans it's been a year full of ups and downs as another calendar year has come and gone without a legitimate contending team in the four major sports, but hope is on the horizon.  The Eagles failed to make the post season after a 3-0 start, but they may have found their franchise Quarterback in this years draft with the 2nd overall pick in NDSU QB Carson Wentz.  There was not too much to expect with the Phillies this past season as they are in the midst of a rebuilding process that should have begun a few years prior, but better late than never, right?  Dating back to the 2nd half of last season and the first half of this season, the Flyers have seen the emergence of Rookie Defencemen Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov along with Forward Travis Konecny and a 10 game win streak to boot, all thanks to former Flyers goalie great and current GM Ron Hextall.  Now you would think here is where I talk about how the Sixers FINALLY won the NBA Draft Lottery (after 3 years of tanking) selecting Australian Guard/Forward  Ben Simmons in a year when there was a clear-cut top selection, unfortunately he broke a bone in his right foot in Training Camp and has still not made his debut yet.  That leads me to what I am absolutely the most thankful for this year, being its just about the conclusion of the Holiday season, Sixers Rookie Center Joel Hans "The Process" Embiid!

         Like Batman, Joel Embiid may not have {originally} been the hero that we wanted, but the hero we needed.  The 7-plus footer, who hails from Cameroon did not start playing basketball until the age of 15 and besides half of a season at the University of Kansas that put him on the map he has not had too much basketball experience.  Along with his inexperience he has faced a great deal of injuries in his young life, which can eventually take a toll on a basketball player of his size.  In 2014 Embiid was days away from being drafted 1st overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers until a back injury and a foot injury put him in jeopardy of his draft stock plummeting.  Insert Sixers Former GM Sam Hinkie (Died for our Sins and should still be here), who in the tanking process saw the potential of what Embiid could be compared to the players available after and took the chance on him with the 3rd overall pick that year. 

         Fast forward to October 26th, 2016 in Philadelphia PA at the Wells Fargo Center and there you have Embiid's first career regular season start in a Sixers uniform.  But before that, it took Embiid two whole seasons before he could get on the court due to multiple surgeries on his foot, but with the "Trust The Process" movement revolutionized by Sam Hinkie, Sixers fans learned to become patient as this team has not been legitimately relevant since the 2001 NBA runner-up Sixers lead by Hall of Fame Guard Allen Iverson.  Joel spent a good amount of time rehabbing overseas where he would heal as well as work on perfecting his shot, which was already good for a 7 foot 2 inch center and found a way to get better.  Embiid before stepping on the court slowly but surely won over the fans via his hilarious social media antics, such as for example, reaching out to Rihanna who he has a crush on and pretending to be on a date with her.  Having a great personality, especially in Philly, can only get you so far...bottom line: your play better be bigger than your mouth and we would soon see that he put his money where his mouth is!

       The Sixers lost the first game of the season (as mentioned above) to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a close one 103-97 and in his debut Embiid was an impact player scoring 20 points with 7 rebounds and 2 blocks in 22 minutes.  Joel has continued to put up great numbers night after night and has a real chance of making it to the All-Star game with his stats and popularity across the country.  All season Embiid has been on a minutes restriction set by team doctors which started at 24 minutes a game and has increased to 28 minutes a game just a couple of weeks ago.  Along with the minutes restriction Embiid is not eligible via team doctors to play on back-to-back days.  What is so incredible about all of this is that Embiid in limited time has not only been the best "rookie" in his class but has been one of the better players in the league averaging 18.7 points per game along with 7.4 rebounds per game and 2.4 blocks per game.  Fun Fact: Embiid has scored in double digits in 20 out of the 21 games he has actually played in.

       Not since Iverson has there been such a player who can command the attention of all who watch him play.  There is a complete difference in the crowd when Embiid is on the floor and when he is not, as well as when he touches the ball everyone anticipates something exciting will happen and so far more times than not Embiid has not disappointed.  One way to really understand how much of a difference Embiid has been making in this town so far in a limited amount of time, his jersey is next to impossible to find anywhere, his popularity is only going to continue to grow.  Joel Embiid for being 7 feet tall can make a difference on both sides of the court in ways a player of his size has not really ever done.  Embiid's potential has even been compared to one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time in Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon.  By the way, Embiid himself has taken on the "Trust The Process" mantra and has made it his own as he has even given himself the nickname "The Process" and still gives homage to former GM Sam Hinkie who drafted him without saying his name.  I mean come on, who does that?  It's truly incredible how one player can completely turn around the mindset of a franchise and city and make them believe again that this team can become something special AND we haven't seen him with Simmons AND the most-likely high draft pick that the Sixers should be getting in the next draft with plenty of talented guards coming out of college.  IF, a very big if, the luck of the Sixers has changed for the better than the possibilities for this team going forward are endless.  Joel Embiid has been a breath of fresh air and has restored my faith that we will not have to wait another 25 years for a championship in Philadelphia.  So thank you 2016 for giving us Joel Embiid and thank you for giving us hope!

Sincerely,
     
        Philadelphia

      

      

        

        

       

As Birds are eliminated Sunday, Jeffery Lurie is the focal point of it all

McLeod/Bradham trying to bring down "Fat Rob" Kelley on his TD run against Eagles.  Image Courtesy: Insidetheiggles.com

Real quick I am going to break down the Philadelphia Eagles Week 14 27-22 loss at home against the Washington Redskins.  I have decided that since the Eagles are mathematically eliminated from Playoff contention (technically have 5 Million to 1 odds of making it), a game recap is unnecessary.  Instead I will continue my Eagles post in this short game recap format and use the rest of my efforts in evaluating this team going forward by roster, coaching and front office structure.

• Eagles QB Carson Wentz played one of his best games all season throwing for over 300 yards but he did unfortunately drop back 46 times to do so.
• The Eagles won the time of possession battle yet they still lost the game.
• TE Zach Ertz caught 10 balls for 112 yards and WR Jordan Matthews caught 8 for 79 yards both helping Wentz throw for over 300 yards.
• The defense wasn't terrible per say but this defense, like last season, is vulnerable to giving up the big play, as Redskins WR caught an 80 yard bomb,  RB Rob Kelley ran for a long TD, and RB Chris Thompson took a screen pass 25 yards at the end of the game to seal the win for Washington.

Let's Start At The Top... 

• Eagles current owner Jeffery Lurie bought this franchise back in May 1994 for $195 Million and now the franchise is worth about $1.5 Billion.  That is all well and good...it's a nice story for a failed movie and television producer from Boston who happened to come from money.  On paper such a financial turn around should be applauded and revered, if this were any other organization outside of sports Lurie would be considered a roaring success, but in sports its easy to see results without looking at a spreadsheet.  And how would one do that?  Championships.
• Let me preface how I continue forward by saying Lurie has not been a terrible owner.  He hasn't "Cleveland Browned" up the joint by continuing to put out a terrible product year after year.  Lurie has even had some contending teams in his regime with 12 playoff appearances, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2004 where the Eagles lost a close one to the New England Patriots.  Also, Lurie has also done a superb job at keeping the Eagles relevant year-in and year-out.  Lurie in his time here has opened a new stadium, taken a strong green initiative with such additions to the stadium being solar panels and wind mills, and has made big splashes in coaching and Free Agency. 
• Now I will explain where my problem with Jeffery Lurie as the owner resides.  I can understand for a new owner it is not easy to step right in and build a winning franchise so with the history of Philadelphia sports he gets a pass for his first 5 seasons of average to below average success, even though they made the playoffs twice in that time(95 and 96).  Then Lurie struck gold with the hiring of Head Coach Andy Reid and the drafting QB Donovan McNabb back in 1999.  Reid came from Green Bay where he was the QB coach to one of the best Quarterbacks to ever play the game (Brett Favre), but Reid was not an overly recognizable figure to the general public, so Lurie had the leverage on Reid and to me held that over him during his time here.  In doing so Lurie didn't meddle too often throughout Reid's tenure and Reid eventually became GM because Lurie knew that Reid could be trusted and would not rock the boat.  With Lurie not being a football guy he wasn't able to see what Andy was doing wrong on the field and in the off season because he quite frankly didn't know better.  For example Lurie could've stepped in and realized that in most of the Reid playoff glory days the team was missing a wide receive, then came Terrell Owens for a year and then they let him leave over a little bit of money and they didn't address the position again for another couple of years.  Eventually Reid's time would run out in Philadelphia as his act got old and he wasn't relevant anymore but a big problem in my eyes was that Lurie held onto Reid a couple of years too long delaying the process of rebuilding this team.  In the mean time a not so well known accountant worked his way up the ranks assisting Lurie throughout the years and that was now current GM Howie Roseman.  Don't get me wrong I am a fan of what Howie has done this past off season but my problem is that Roseman and Lurie together are non-football guys who believe too much in analytics and can't decipher legitimate talent on the grid-iron from experience.  Together Lurie and Roseman have a tight bond and if anybody tries to get in the way of that they will eventually have them removed, such as former Head Coach Chip Kelly, who deserved to be fired for being a fraud but if the Lurie/Roseman brain trust could've seen eye to eye with Chip MAYBE things could've been different.  Also, another talent who was dismissed due to not getting along with Roseman specifically was ESPN's Louis Riddick who is a bright football mind in my opinion.    Back to Chip Kelly, only 3 years into a 5 year contract with Kelly, Lurie dropped the hammer on Chip last year before the final week of the season firing him because of public opinion essentially in an emotional decision.  Kelly was short with people/media, stubborn, rude, and unwilling to adjust which eventually got him fired which in the end was the right move but where the Eagles and Lurie went wrong was hiring current Head Coach Doug Pederson who is the anti-chip filled with emotional intelligence.  Before I continue with the Pederson hiring I have to say Lurie has said some pretty interesting things in his time here, when he actually decides that he wants to show his face because he loves to just pick and choose.  He has called this organization "The Gold Standard" when they have nothing to show for it.  He believes a coach needs to have "Emotional Intelligence" and that they should "Open Up Their Heart" to the team and the city.  These quotes are damning to me at least because he has turned this organization soft and with that being said I continue with Pederson.  Lurie hired Pederson in my opinion because he knew Doug would be the lap dog-yes man that wouldn't rock the boat for him and Howie while trying to bring back the Andy Reid days.  I'm sorry but that is not how the NFL works.  The coach needs to have a say in the moves that are made and the coach also needs to be able to know how to coach a game in the NFL, how to run plays in certain situations and I believe Pederson is and will not be the guy for it, but I don't blame Pederson, I blame the man at the top for that, Jeffery Lurie.
• Final Statement on Lurie: In MY Opinion (everyone is entitled to thiers) Lurie is a businessman who claims he wants to win but does not bring in the people who can help make that happen.  His ownership of this team is still a failure in my eyes as he has not brought a championship to this city and I believe as long as he is the owner a Lombardi trophy will never be paraded down Broad Street.  I hope I'm wrong but my faith and confidence in this organization as a whole has been shaken. 

 

 

Eagles Season Likely Over, Fall to Packers on MNF

         

Eagles CB Carroll looking lost getting beat by Packers WR Adams for TD.  Image Courtesy: CSNPhilly.com

          The Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night 27-13 in depressing fashion.  The Eagles with a record of 5-5 came into the game as 3 point favorites at home against the struggling Packers, who just couldn't seem to get anything going.  And then they rolled in to Lincoln Financial Field and things changed.  All week the running narrative was, besides how lost Eagles WR Nelson Agholor is, the Eagles should win this game against the Packers.  Now if you go to my twitter (@PhillySportsSrc) and listen to the podcast that I make a weekly appearance on (#TheSmallBallLineup), I predicted the Eagles would win this game in a close one, 28-24, but deep down in my heart of hearts I had a bad, bad, bad feeling the Packers and their All-Pro QB Aaron Rodgers having their backs against the wall that they would get their groove back against the Birds.  The Packers weren't only struggling on offense, but their defense had given up at least 31 points in their last 4 games...the Eagles put up 13 POINTS! 13 POINTS! 13 POINTS!  I'm beside myself right now so its just easier to bullet proof sentences with key points below, then I'm going to rip Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson...nothing new, I know!

• Eagles first drive of the game was the only legitimately good drive of the game.  It was an 11 Play, 81 yard drive with the Eagles only TD of the game coming in on a QB Carson Wentz rushing TD.  
• WR Dorial Green-Beckham had 4 catches for 58 yards. (Finished with 6/82)

• As I mentioned above, Eagles WR Nelson Agholor was listed as a healthy Inactive and Practice Squad WR Paul Turner took his place...Didn't matter as he only had 23 Snaps and 0 targets.

• Rookie RB Wendell Smallwood who took the place of injured RB Ryan Mathews only had 9 carries for 37 yards.  The Eagles win when they run the ball well and they didn't even try.

• Eagles QB Carson Wentz besides his rushing TD (ran 4 times for 33 yards), his QB stat line read 24/36 for 254 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT with a QBR of 75.5

• Packers QB Aaron Rodgers was the first QB to throw for 300+ yards against the Eagles Defense as he finished with a stat line of 30/39 for 313 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT with a QBR of 116.7.  

• Packers WR Davante Adams torched CB's Nolan Carroll and Leodis McKelvin for 2 receiving touchdowns on 5 catches for 113 yards.

• To add insult to injury the Eagles Defense did not sack QB Aaron Rodgers once and he was only hit once, which was the Eagles DT Fletcher Cox's Roughing the Passer Penalty.

• The Eagles Defense allowed the Packers to convert 10 of 14 3rd Down Conversions where on the flip side the Eagles could only convert 5 of 11 3rd Down Conversions. 

• Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz for sure did not have his best game by; failing to establish a blitz with more than his front 4, press the corners against their receivers-gave them too much room to work with, and have terrible cornerback matchups-never made adjustments.

          The Eagles have now fallen to 5-6 and are pretty much out of playoff contention.  They needed this game against the Packers and they came up empty handed.  I originally predicted a 6-10 record in which you would see this team grow over the season, but after key wins against the Steelers, Vikings, and Falcons, add some bad losses in between, I have now seen this team regress in all facets of the game. In my very, very, very, very, very unpopular opinion I do not believe that Head Coach Doug Pederson should be the coach of this team following the Dallas Cowboys game on New Years day.  BUT I do understand it is unreasonable to fire a coach after one season (bad for team) but 3 years of an elementary-leveled play caller could set not only the franchise as a whole back but more importantly IMO the Franchise Quarterback back (Carson Wentz).  As I type this it's 12:22 AM just about an hour after the game and I don't feel like going to bed worked up so I will elaborate on the many issues this team faces and more in my season wrap-up, which may have multiple pieces and may be arriving before the official seasons end. 

Good Night Philadelphia, sorry it wasn't one for the Eagles.

Sleeping in Seattle, Eagles Lose to Seahawks

SEA QB R. Wilson scoring...on a receiving TD. Image: CSNPhilly.com

      The Eagles traveled West to play the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday and came home losers.  That's right, surprise, surprise!  They lost to the Seahawks 26-15 in a game where the score does not tell the story as it could've been worse.  Last week on The SmallBall Lineup (weekly podcast with Keith Smallwood) I predicted a very close 24-21 loss on the , because I thought this team was going to get it together respectably after a solid win against the Falcons.  Anyway they came out flat and the stats are irrelevant for the most part after a game like this.  What I am going to do this week is just keep it simple, make points and observations on this past week and for the team moving forward.

• Surprisingly, this was the first game of the season that the Eagles were completely out played in all facets of the game and for the most part were never really in it.

• Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson continues to prove how clueless he can be.  His press conferences don't help him in the slightest as his poor explanations of his decisions to me depict how he calls the game on the field.  For example, He acknowledges in today's press conference that he knows that Rookie QB Carson Wentz should not be throwing the ball 45 times in Seattle, yet he had him throw the ball 45 times when the score wasn't out of hand yet.  Also, Doug needs to be careful because he tends to subtly throw Wentz under the bus as a rookie, yet many of the other players who make mistakes never are mentioned to the media.  In my opinion Wentz is the guy that needs to be tended to because he is one of the few on the team right now who will be the face of the franchise.

• The Eagles defensive as a whole did not play their best game for sure, but the defensive line was suckered all day by a sub-par/make-shift offensive line.  Going into the game the narrative was to contain Russell Wilson and the defensive line continued to over-pursue giving space for Wilson to slide up into the pocket.  Unfortunately this was not one of Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz's best games coaching as they were not creative in their blitzing schemes.

•  Eagles QB Carson Wentz has been regressing over the past couple of weeks and he does deserve a slight bit of blame but he is getting an unfortunate amount of flack with close to 0 help around him.  The guy has nothing to work with but at the same time he is making mistakes.  Some of this to me is the Head Coach not play calling as he was in the beginning of season and the other part is Wentz wanting to win by pressing.  The bright side of this all is that he can experience the lows now and if/when they can get him help he'll be able to capitalize on his mistakes in the future.

• Seahawks Quarterback Russell Wilson would've essentially been the best wide receiver on the Eagles on Sunday(when it mattered), scoring a 15 yard trick play Touchdown pass from Seahawks WR Doug Baldwin.  Seattle lived on the big plays Sunday as TE Jimmy Graham also caught a TD on a 35 yard broken play (awful missed attempt at a tackle by Safety Jaylen Watkins) while Rookie RB C.J. Prosise busted out a 72 yard TD scamper as the defense wiffed on getting the back down (big missed assignment by Eagles CB Jalen Mills).  Bottom line Seattle took advantage of missed opportunities by Philadelphia and Philadelphia hurt themselves on offense by taking away big plays via penalties and dropped passes.

• Speaking of Receiving...Eagles 2015 first round pick WR Nelson Agholor has been nothing short of a disappointment and Sunday may have been a breaking point.  Not only did Agholor drop another wide open strike from Carson Wentz, but his Illegal Formation penalty that negated a 57 yard screen pass TD to Zach Ertz in the 2nd quarter may have changed the tide for the Eagles.  He has admitted to his head not being in it and that he is pressing but I can not feel bad for him because he has been given every opportunity since he has arrived and has not been able to catch more than 3 passes in a game.  To cut him would cost around 7 million dollars and that seems absolutely crazy but it is something that has to AT LEAST be considered because he has been the epitome of how bad the wide outs have been here the past two seasons.

• Garbage time for the Eagles as I mentioned made this game look salvageable for this team.  WR Dorial Green-Beckham came up BIG in Garbage time.  Please people watch the game before referring to the box score so you know what you are talking about because just the box score is so misleading.  I still believe there is something there in talent and size with Green-Beckham but he has to do it when it counts, not just when they are down 19 in the 4th quarter.

• A couple bits of good news for this team moving forward.
• The Eagles are 1-5 on the road and 4-0 at home, so there are only 2 more road games and 4 more home games which favors the Eagles going forward, MAYBE keeping them in the playoff hunt if they can take advantage of the home field advantage.
• The Seahawks, in my opinion, are the best all-around team they have played this season and will play this season.

Eagles Beat Falcons, But Will The Real Doug P Please Stand Up?

 

Ryan Mathews celebrates after 1 of his 2 TDs on the day against Atlanta.  Image courtesy: WTOP.com

       Going into Sunday afternoon, the visiting Atlanta Falcons had the #1 scoring offense in the NFL averaging about 34 points a game, then they played the Philadelphia Eagles' stout defense and were held to a season low of 15 Pts as well as season lows in many other offensive categories.  The Eagles won the NFC battle by a score of 24-15 keeping their playoff hopes alive for another week improving their record to 5-4.  The title of this article may sound misleading as I still believe Sunday was a great win but down below in my observations from Sunday's game I will explain why I am not sure which Head Coach for this team Doug Pederson is, as well as the remedy to winning unfavorable match-ups and a rejuvenated home field advantage in South Philly that's been long overdue.

 Key Stats from Sunday's Game

• Eagles RB Ryan Mathews ran for 109 yards on 19 carries scoring twice, while Rookie RB Wendell Smallwood ran for 80 yards on 13 carries as they helped to contribute to the ground games total of 208 yards.
• QB Carson Wentz has cooled down since the beginning of the season as he goes a second game in a row without a TD pass but was 25/36 for 231 yards and 0 INTs.
• RB Darren Sproles, WR Jordan Matthews, and TE Zach Ertz combined for 20 receptions for 185 yards.
• The Eagles won the Time of Possession battle 38:10-21:50, their largest margin of the season.
• Exton Product and Falcons QB Matt Ryan had a very pedestrian day for himself on 18/33 passing for 267 yards 1 TD and 1 INT.
• If this next phrase is possible Falcons WR Julio Jones had a quite day catching 10 balls for 135 yards but did not find the endzone.

Observations Going Forward 

• WILL THE REAL DOUG PEDERSON PLEASE STAND UP? I REPEAT WILL THE REAL DOUG PEDERSON PLEASE STAND UP? WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PROBLEM HERE...I have made it abundantly clear time and time again that I am not the biggest fan of Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson and do not believe he was or will ever be the best candidate for the job of Eagles Head Coach.  Why do I feel this way you may ask?  First, The Eagles were in a time of transition when they made the hire; Chip Kelly the power-hungry false-messiah was sent packing after ignorantly regressing by the season, so the front office hired the complete opposite, a yes man with no college or NFL head coaching experience who wasn't asked to interview with any other team that had a vacancy.  Second, as offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs last year, Pederson took responsibility for the awful handling of the lack of using timeouts in their playoff loss to the New England Patriots, which in the past couple of weeks we are starting to see poor clock timeout management.  Finally, this is more of an assumption, based on his press conferences and interviews he comes off very vanilla and clueless at times and those shouldn't be the first two adjectives that come to mind when I think of a head coach.  Anyway, Pederson turned my head when the Eagles started off 3-0, I was catching myself paying compliments towards the head coach.  He was coaching conventionally; working with the talent he had, rotated his running backs well, had the team motivated to play, didn't make time management mistakes.  Then, after an early Week 4 Bye the team came out flat from the week off with two straight ugly losses as the team in 6 of the 8 combined quarters looked lost and clueless committing over 25 penalties for over 200 yards which is accredited to bad coaching.  Next, they turned it around against an undefeated Vikings team at the time in a defensive juggernaut followed by two more losses, but this time stemming directly from the coach, filled with indecision and time management issues, such as; drawing up terrible plays on 4th down, not rotating running backs well, not knowing when to call timeouts, taking points off the board by not taking Field Goals when you need points, making bad challenges, out-coaching himself, completely going against what was successful earlier in season, not establishing a conventional game plan, and finally not establishing an identity as a football team (mostly on offense, the defense has theirs).  Finally, we arrive at Sunday and Doug goes back to how he coached in the beginning of the season.  The Eagles won the time of possession battle and established a running game against the Falcons keeping their offense off the field not allowing them to get a rhythm, **but Pederson did almost go for a terrible 4th down but then came to his senses, called a timeout and kicked the FG when it was needed.**  This is all well and good as I hope he continues to coach similarly to Sunday, but until he establishes this teams identity and enforces it, I cannot say that I have faith in him as our HC and even though he is a rookie coach he in my opinion has made TOO MANY POP-WARNER LEVEL MISTAKES.  Who shows up in Seattle on Sunday Jekyll or Hyde?

• How this team can win unfavorable matchups.  Win the time of possession battle by running the ball effectively with your more powerful running backs.  It sounds so simple and it actually is but you must have the pieces to do it.  Surprisingly, the Eagles have the offensive line and running backs to do it against most teams, but eventually if they face better defenses they will need receivers to open up the field, which they do not have at this moment.  Even though the Eagles throughout the entire season have had one of the best defenses in the league, they cannot be effective if they are out on the field for too long, especially if they are playing an above average offense.  Let's take the teams two best wins, against the Steelers and the Falcons for example.  Both teams had excellent offenses filled with above average  QBs, RBs, and WRs (esp. WR because the Eagles Corner backs are one of the worst groups in the league).  If you go back and look over the game you could see that the Eagles offense's game-plan was to keep the opposing teams offense off the field by running the ball effectively and eating up the clock.

•  Home-Field Advantage is back in Philadelphia. I actually had the privilege of being in attendance on Sunday (thanks to mama dukes for winning me the tickets) as I was a part of the 69,000+ that cheered the Eagles to victory.  As I was observing the game and taking my mental notes I was zoning in on how loud the crowd really got, now I wasn't able to re-watch the game on television but I would have to believe the stadium was close to the loudest it has been in the past 3 years or so.  It felt like the place was shaking, especially towards the end of the game when big defensive stands were needed to disrupt the talented offense of Atlanta and when Ryan Mathews dove into the endzone for his second TD of the game taking the lead back again for good!  HIGHLY INTELLIGENT STATISTICAL ANALYSIS INCOMING: I'll leave you with this...The Eagles are 1-4 on the road this season, BUT they are 4-0 at home, which means they play better at home and that can almost directly correlate to an advantage over the visiting team, especially when the fans are causing havoc and pandemonium. 

Pederson's Blunders Lead to Eagles Loss vs Giants

Eagles final offensive play sealing win for Giants. Image Courtesy: Beaumont Enterprise

•  I'm not going to get into the player dynamics too much about Sunday's 28-23 Loss to the New York Giants becuase the game in general was ugly but I'll highlight some interesting stats...I guess.
• QB Carson Wentz started off the game by throwing 2 bad early interceptions but after that he settled in a little bit and had a decent yardage day...27/47 (way too many passes), 364 yards, 0 TDs and 2 INTs.
• TE Zach Ertz had his best game of the season hauling in 8 catches for 97 yards, while WR Jordan Matthews caught 6 balls for 88 yards.
• Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. had only 4 catches for 46 yards...AND 2 TDs, making Eagles CB Leodis McKelvin look absolutely foolish on his first one as Beckham won on an untouched 26 yard slant route early in the game and Giants QB Eli Manning roasted the Eagles for 4 TDs on 336 yards passing.

• The narrative is getting so old and tired....AND IT'S ONLY WEEK 9, but Eagles Rookie Head Coach Doug Pederson (Andy 2.0) has done it again!  Pederson lost a winnable game on Sunday against the New York Giants at the score of 28-23 by making "Pop-Warner" level mistakes when it came to coaching this game.  In a nutshell he lost this game by; taking close to sure-fire points off of the table throughout the game by going for 4th downs when Field Goals would've sufficed (with one of the hottest Kickers in the NFL this year), going for those 4th down attempts contrary to FG's with horrific play calls, and making terrible judgements when going for challenges and using timeouts.  Unfortunately, the recurring trend is that this team is able to hang around towards the end of these games but can't close when it matters because the coach can not put the team in the best position to win.  I can now say that in the 4 losses the Eagles have suffered so far this season he has been the reason they have lost each game and with each game it is progressively more and more clear that he is to blame.  Don't get me wrong the players need to go out on the field and perform and they aren't holding up their half of the bargain either but the coach has a great deal to do with that.  I'm not saying that the Jeffery Lurie, Howie Roseman, and the Eagles organization needs to fire Doug...yet, but since the 3-0 start this team had, which seems to be forever ago, Pederson has instilled the fears I first had when it became official that he would be the leading man for this football team.  

• As I think this coming Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons at home (where the Eagles are 3-0 this season) is another winnable game, Pederson has to coach this game a total 180 of the last 4 or 5 weeks because if not it could get extremely ugly.  Atlanta has the number one scoring offense in the NFL at about 34 Points per game and their defense is much improved as the Head Coaching of former Seattle Seahawks Defensive Coordinator is starting to translate on the field.  I would give Pederson slack if the talent on the field was under performing way more than are at this moment in time but he is the one who is holding this team back from glowing and the Falcons could be poised to exploit the Eagles way more than they have already been with how good they have been playing this year.

Eagles Fumble Away a Victory in Dallas

Wendell Smallwood 4th Quarter Fumble. Image Courtesy: NBC10.com

• The Philadelphia Eagles would be sitting pretty at 5-2 and tied for 1st place in the NFC East if last nights game was 56 minutes and 47 seconds long, but that is not real life and just like last week this fan-base can not have nice things!  There are a couple of resorts to place the blame on for the L, but without a doubt the biggest reason far and away the Eagles lost to the Dallas Cowboys last night was that quote, unquote "very special guy"!  I'm not calling for his job but Head Coach Doug Pederson let a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter slip away as the Cowboys were able to drive down the field on the first possession in overtime and score a touchdown to a wide open Jason Witten, Tight End of the Cowboys.   Final score of the game was Dallas 29 Eagles 23 in Overtime, but if this game were coached properly the Eagles would've won by double digits and I will explain.

• Doug Pederson's Coaching Follies 

• Not Stretching The Field - In the NFL there is a theory that if you throw the ball down the field you can keep the defense honest and make them vulnerable by opening up the field and giving yourself more space.  Well, Eagles Rookie QB Carson Wentz never threw the ball for more than 20 yards down the field the entire game.  Yet WR Josh Huff threw a deep pass to WR Jordan Matthews on a trick play that was almost completed for a Touchdown, but that play should've never happened and I will get to that in my next point on Pederson's play calling.  Wentz was 32/43 passing yet he threw for 202 yards, an average of 6.3 yards per completion, making him captain check-down.  Doug must have read Les Bonehead's...I mean Les Bowen's piece on not throwing the ball down the field which is the opposite of what he should be doing.  I have been saying for weeks that Eagles should take shots down the field with WR Dorial Green-Beckham, who at 6'5 runs a 4.5 40, and the aforementioned Josh Huff, who has track star speed similar to former Eagle Desean Jackson, just to keep defenses on their toes.  Green-Beckham and Huff don't have the best hands, but it does not matter if it is an incomplete pass, they just need to let the Cowboys defense knows that they could go over the top of them and that will open more of the field for the offense to work with.

• Play Calling/Game Strategy Late in Game - As I have made abundantly clear above not stretching the field falls in this category, but I have 3 specific examples of decisions that cost the game.  
• 1.) With 13:05 remaining in the 4th Quarter as the Eagles offense started on their own 41 yard line with a 23-13 lead.  Rookie RB Wendell Small saw his first action of the game and he fumbled the ball in the backfield of the first play and Dallas recovered the ball and would go on to kick a Field Goal to cut the Eagles lead from 10 to 7.  I have been a big component of getting Smallwood carries but you can't leave a rookie cold and throw him in, in late in a big game to run down the clock.  RB Darren Sproles had been surprisingly effective as the lead back all game, at that point you have to stick to what you know.  This is now the 3rd time in 4 weeks an Eagles Running back has fumbled the ball in situations where they were trying to seal a game and twice it has cost them W's.
• 2.) Dallas resorted to trick plays twice in this game because their backs were against the wall and they were pressing.  One was a fake punt run in which they were successful and the other was a screen pass to Cowboys WR Cole Beasley, who overthrew an open Terrance Williams.  The Eagles were driving down the field, converting a couple first downs with 8 minutes left in the game with the lead and they ruined their rhythm by pulling out the same trick play the Cowboys did.  Here I am referring to the play I mentioned above, the Huff to Matthews TD attempt.  Even though the play almost worked it showed a sign of weakness in Pederson's play calling as he wanted to do what the Cowboys did instead of being conventional and moving the ball the way they had been successful most of the game.
• 3.) The Eagles defense played well most of the night, holding one of the best offenses in check and towards the end of regulation the Eagles got a big momentum swing when they could've used it most and didn't capitalize.  On the Cowboys last possession of the game that began with 38 seconds left the Eagles forced and incomplete pass followed by a huge 10 yard sack of Cowboys Rookie QB Dak Prescott with 33 seconds left.  The issues here is the Eagles still had all of their timeouts and could've have forced to cowboys to run a couple more plays deep in their own side of the field maybe forcing them to make a mistake or have to punt to one of the best punt returners in the game Darren Sproles who was on fire most of the game.  Instead the Cowboys did not attempt another play as they just let the time expire and head into overtime giving the Cowboys a potential momentum swing by receiving the ball to start OT, eventually winning the game on that possession.

• To end on a positive note and give a little bit of hope past the glaring negatives of last nights Eagles loss there were a couple of positives that should be noted that could benefit this team in the future. 
• Defense/Jim Schwartz play calling - The Eagles defense was able to contain the best running back in the league, Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliot, and the Cowboys offense as a whole in general.  When it mattered most Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz dialed up blitzes with his defensive backs and trust the corners in 1-on-1 coverage against a decent set of Cowboys wide receivers, including Dez Bryant.
• Darren Sproles - Even though I am not a huge believer in giving Eagles RB Darren Sproles lead back carries he took advantage of the opportunity running for 86 yards on 15 carries averaging 5.7 YPC.
• Carson Wentz - As I will mention again, Wentz was 32/43 passing for 202 yards with 1 Touchdown and 0 interceptions.  It is not a beautiful stat line but there is a slight silver lining to more than the box score.  6 of the 11 incompletions for Wentz were dropped by his receivers, who as a whole unit have been sub-par at best and Wentz could only throw the ball as much as the play calling of his coaches offered so he made the most of what little freedom he was given and was mistake free.
• Lack of Penalties - The Eagles have been one of the worst teams in football with penalties but they were mostly a non-factor in the loss as they only had 5 penalties for 40 yards as to where the Cowboys had 11 penalties for 84 yards.
• Offensive Line Play - The Eagles O-Line virtually committed no penalties, which they had been accustom to doing in the previous weeks and gave Carson time in the pocket....to throw the ball 5 yards (Womp-Womp.)  Thanks Doug!

• The Eagles now fall to 4-3 and travel north to the Meadowlands in New Jersey to play a MUST-WIN game against the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon.  Do the Eagles make a move to acquire a Wide Receiver by Tuesday's trade deadline?  More to come...

  

What To Take From Sixers Season Opener Against Thunder

Sixers Players Joel Embiid, Dario Saric, Sergio Rodriguez and Jerami Grant/Nik Stauskas

The Philadelphia 76ers opened their season and essentially the 2nd Stage of "The Process" last night at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Unfortunately, there are two national headlines regarding last nights game and neither of them involve the team.  Singer Sevyn Streeter was to sing National Anthem but was pulled due to breaching of contract wearing a "We Matter" shirt and a local Urologist sitting court side Double-birded and screamed "F@#$ You" unnecessarily to Thunder Super Star Russell Westbrook after a fantastic play on his part.  Blah, Blah, Blah, I don't care about any of that so that's all you'll get on that from me.  The Sixers came out strong taking a commanding lead against the favored Thunder and were able to slightly maintain a slight lead throughout most of the game until the final minutes.  In the end Westbrook and the Thunder were able to capture the lead in the last two minutes and won the game 103-97, but that's not the basis of this column.  Below I'll display what I took away from last night's tough, but mostly positive loss to the Thunder

• JOEL "THE PROCESS" EMBIID was absolutely stellar in his long-awaited Sixers debut! - Where do I begin with Joel Embiid?  Last night was Embiid's first official regular season game with the Sixers, after being drafted by the team in 2014, and boy was it worth the wait!  Embiid said before the game that he was nervous playing in his first regular season game, but to me it didn't show.  He fed off of a packed Wells Fargo Center and the crowd fed off of him as well.  Embiid brought an energy on the court that has been missing in Philly for a while and regardless of where the Sixers are in the standings throughout the season he has made this team a must watch.  Embiid was very focused as well as very entertaining throughout the game, which to me is a quality that is hard to find and gives him the potential to be a star in this league.  Now Head Coach Brett Brown and the Sixers staff have made it very clear that Embiid will be on a minutes restriction this season as the team wants to make sure Embiid's foot heals as it should.  As the season progresses and if Embiid does not show any wear or tear in health, his minutes per game will go up, but last night he played just about 22 minutes when he was slated to play 20 and it was the best 22 minutes of basketball this city has seen from one player since Hall of Famer Allen Iverson!  Embiid had a monster game for being on a minutes restriction(22 Minutes) with a stat line of: 20 PTS (6/16 FG) (7/8 FT) (1/3 3PFG) 7 REB, and 2 Blocks (SWAT, SWAT!)...Embiid also had 4 TO (turnovers) but that number has actually from the beginning of the preseason.  The debut of Embiid finally gave solace to all of the "Processers" who never gave up on Sam Hinkie's vision, even after he was essentially forced out by the team as Embiid has taken on the moniker in self-appointing himself as "The Process" and he has done us and Hinkie so very proud in just one game! 

• Sergio Rodriguez took the game into his hands when he needed to. - "El Chacho", which translates to "The dude" in Spanish, is a great way to describe Sergio Rodriguez's play in his Sixers debut.  Rodriguez had what I would call an exciting yet shaky preseason for the Sixers as he turned over the ball a good amount but last night was a different story!  El Chacho's stat line read: 12 PTS (5/11 FG) (2/6 3PFG), 4 REB, 9 AST, and 0 Turnovers.  I was very impressed with Rodriguez last night as he played solid Point Guard last night, cleaned up some of his mistakes from the preseason, and lead this young team when they needed to look to someone to control the game.  He may not have games like last night where he didn't turn the ball over but he should continue to be a strong facilitator with this young band of talent as we await Ben Simmons' Sixers debut!

• Can Nik Stauskas actually play?!?!?! - I was a very big believer in Nik Stauskas before he came into the league as he was a sharp 3-point shooting Canadian who was a big contributor for the University of Michigan Wolverines.  In the 2014 draft, same draft as Embiid and Saric, the Kings took "Sauce Castillo" 8th overall and traded him away to the Sixers after a disappointing rookie year.  Ever since he got here he had been a major disappointment, not being able to connect on his many 3-point attempts but we saw a much different Sauce last night as he put up 13 PTS on 5/6 FG and was a difference maker on the floor for the Sixers.  Now it is only one game and I am not going to get ahead of myself but he looked much more aggressive as he put the ball on the floor and drove to the basket for most of his points.  We'll see how he plays, but if he can actually be a player for this team it will be a breath of fresh air for the kid who was once regarded as a great shooter in college!

• Richaun Holmes could take Nerlens Noel's place on this team - Richaun Holmes in flashes throughout his short career has shown that he can bring a different energy off the bench for this squad in their crowded front court.  In limited time last night Holmes scored 6 PTS and filled Noel's spot in defensive presence by grabbing 3 REB and denying the Thunder with 3 Blocks.  I have always admired Noel's defensive presence for this team and had always preferred him to Jahlil Okafor in regards to the crowded front court but with Free Agency looming for Noel it might be beneficial to ship Noel and bring in Holmes more often than not to replace Noel's defensive presence.

• "The Homie" Dario Saric(Rookie) and 2nd-year Big Man Jahlil Okafor did not have great games but don't worry! - Dario Saric had an excellent preseason for the most part for the Sixers but in last nights game I felt he pressed too much in forcing up some shots at times when he shouldn't have but he did show the hustle and aggressiveness that will translate to being a great 6th man in this league and for this team eventually!  Saric can be a decent scorer in this league but is more of an all-around player who does everything else well and it showed in his stat line as he shot just 2/12 FG for 5 pts BUT had 7 REB and 2 AST.  Give it time, he will work on his clutch 3-point shooting as he relaxes and catches up to the speed of the NBA game.  Now Jahlil Okafor, who I am not the biggest fan of did play decent for someone coming off of knee surgery as he scored 8 PTS on 4/10 shooting while grabbing 3 REB and getting 1 Block.  I think Okafor as he gets his knee fully back under him will play much better offensively but I think he needs to work on his rebounding and defense or as I mentioned above Richaun Holmes could eat up some more of his big man minutes.

•  Ben Simmons spoke for the first time last night, after having surgery on his foot.  1st Overall pick in the 2016 NBA, Ben Simmons was supposed to make his debut alongside Embiid and the Sixers last night, but that dream fell short due to a foot injury on the last day of training camp that should sideline him at least 3 months.  Simmons was in attendance on the bench for the squad showing his support last night and before the game spoke with the media on his current state.  There were rumors after Simmons' injury that his agent wanted to hold him out of the season entirely even though he would be able to at least play the second half of the season when healed, but as Simmons sat at the podium before last nights tip-off he stated he would be on the court as soon as he's told by his physicians that he can go out there and play.  We are used to injuries on this team and we are used to delays so we will see what happens, so I cannot say this was 100% confirmed by Simmons last night even though he has the best intentions, but all we can do as a fan base is hope to see Simmons with these other young stars ASAP so we can see what the future holds because we've been patiently waiting long enough!

#TrustTheProcess 

Eagles Down Vikings, Yet We Can't Have Nice Things!

WR/KR Josh Huff Flipping into the Endzone at conclusion of game-changing 98 Yard Kickoff Return TD.  Image Courtesy of CSNPhilly.com

First Off, if you know me and even if you don't...DON'T SLEEP ON JOSH HUFF!!!

That is all.

Anyway...

• On Sunday, The Philadelphia Eagles beat the formerly undefeated Minnesota Vikings 21-10 as the Birds defensive unit shined, ruining Former Eagles now Minnesota Viking Quarterback Sam Bradford's return to his old nest...So cliche, right?  Anyway (again), the 1st quarter itself saw 5 turnovers between the two teams(at one point 3 straight plays changing possession) and 8 total for the game(4 each).  Eagles Rookie Quarterback Carson Wentz did not look great as he had a sub-par game going 16-28 for 138 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs, but I will discuss more about Carson below.  For the most part the Eagles offense will rise and fall based on the play of Carson Wentz as they also did not have a great day, but in total the unit did just enough to win the game.  On the other side of the ball the Eagles defense maybe had their best overall game causing 4 turnovers as well as sacking former Eagles Quarterback Sam Bradford 6 times.  

• Notes To Take Away From Game
• WR Dorial Green-Beckham caught his first Touchdown of the season in the Redzone on a bullet from Carson Wentz.  Even though DGB only caught 2 passes on Sunday he has been getting more opportunities, which to me is inspiring.  He has definitely made bone-head plays as he may not be the smartest player on the field but my unpopular opinion and hope is that by the end of the season the Eagles coaches are able to teach him into be a solid wide receiver with raw talent and athleticism.
• WR/KR Josh Huff returned a 98 Yard Kickoff return touchdown swinging the momentum in the Eagles favor as they never looked back the rest of the game.  In general Special Teams may not get as much credit as they deserve at times but good teams usually have good special teams and this is the 2nd week in a row the Eagles have taken a kick return to the house.  Also in regards to Huff, this new coaching staff has finally learned how to use Huff on offense as he caught 4 passes for 39 yards with most of those plays creating first downs.  Huff is not your prototypical wide receiver, as was the case when he played his college ball in Oregon, he was used as a Running Back/Wide Receiver hybrid, look for more of this play design as the season goes on and the team needs to get creative on offense.
• The Eagles Defense lit up the stat sheet on Sunday completely disrupting Vikings QB Sam Bradford, which was the biggest reason for the Birds win.  LB Jordan Hicks had quite the bounce-back game as he recorded 11 Tackles(8 Solo) 2 Tackles For Loss (1 Sack) and 2 Pass Deflections.  FS Rodney McLeod may have had an even better game than Hicks, making 7 Solo Tackles (1 Sack), grabbing his 3rd interception of the season as well forcing one of Bradford's 2 lost fumbles.  I can keep going down the list but one more defender that stood out on Sunday was DE Brandon Graham who piled on the pressure for Bradford as he recorded as sack and hit Bradford a team-high 6 times, as Bradford played under duress all afternoon in South Philadelphia.
• One glaringly negative aspect of Sunday's game for the Eagles was RB Ryan Mathews' play.  He rushed the ball 14 times for 56 yards which isn't terrible, but he fumbled the ball for the 2nd time in 3 weeks when the Eagles were trying to close out a game, running out the clock.  Mathews had a couple good runs on the afternoon creating a first down or two, but his "fumblitis" in closing out games may have the coaching staff looking to their younger backs such as rookie RB Wendell Smallwood in the near future as trust has been lost with Mathews.

• Here is why the city of Philadelphia Can't Have Nice Things: Carson Wentz
• The growing narrative in Philly has been that the Eagles rookie signal caller needs to lose his gun-slinger tendencies because he is costing the Eagles football games.  Local writers such as Jeff McLane, Zach Berman, and Les Bowen have written pieces saying his play is ill-advised and detrimental to the team.  To me there are many, many, many, many, many things wrong with this narrative, so I will go though them.  Don't get me wrong, Wentz's play of the past 3 weeks has not been as good as it was the first three weeks of the season, but that is normal, did we really expect Wentz to stay perfect?  Has he sailed balls over receivers heads at times?  Has he made decisions that may not have been the best possible? Sure he has, but the level of play has been better and he has learn to become resilient and has corrected some mistakes from early on in the season.
• But before I get into those reasons, I want to establish how frustrated I am with people who can not see the forest through the trees.  We live in a society in which you can have information on anything in seconds by way of a smartphone, which is great, but it debilitates seeing something for what it is in full because we need one answer right now!  This is why I suggest more people read my blogs because there is no agenda on my end and that I will be as objective as I possibly can be.
• Reasons Why Carson Should Continue To Play His Way:
• Average to Sub-par O-Line: RT Lane Johnson serving 10-game suspension for PED's(stupidity), C Jason Kelce has been a shell of himself for 2 seasons now and is too small to play as a "West Coast Offense" offensive lineman.  The line in general is not giving Wentz enough time in pocket to survey the field and make accurate passes.  Wentz is one of the best QB's in the league against the blitz, just imagine if he got used to having time in the pocket.
• Lack of Skill Position Talent: Pretty self explanatory.  WR Jordan Matthews is Wentz's best target yet is wildly inconsistent.  TE Zach Ertz has not been the player that we thought we were getting when being drafted.  This team is plagued with drops, which is an issue that still needs to be worked on.  I believe the Eagles should throw bukku money at Chicago Bears WR Alshon Jeffrey this upcoming off-season as he is a big-time consistent play-making receiver, when he has a QB that has a good head on his shoulders and can throw the ball farther than 20 yards.
• He's a Rookie: Before Sam Bradford was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, Wentz was listed as the 3rd QB on the Eagles depth chart who was coming off of an injury and wasn't even going to dress this season.  A rookie needs to make mistakes so he can learn how to avoid them in the future.
• Very High Football I.Q. and willingness to learn: In the beginning of the season when he was doing well he was doing one thing very poorly and has since corrected this issue.  The issue was putting himself in harms way, running around carelessly on the field.  These same writers who are saying he needs to be more cautious are not saying how he has not put himself in harms way the past three games.  The offensive coaches told him he needs to improve in that area of his game and so far he has not put himself in harms way.  Me personally I have not had any heart palpitations over the past couple of weeks!!!
• Teams have more game tape on Wentz: Let's be honest, teams are going to learn a QB's tendencies when watching more and more game tape.  Oh! And the Eagles on Sunday were playing the best defense in the NFL on Sunday against the Vikings...COME ON!
•  Most Successful QB's in NFL take chances: The last time I checked, most of the most successful QB's in the NFL made their way in the league by taking chances, doing things that most other QB's could not do. 
• Wentz Emulated his game after Brett Favre: Former NFL QB Brett Favre, who spent most of his illustrious Hall of Fame career as the signal-caller of the Green Bay Packers, was best known for his Gun-slinger attitude on the football field.  So I ask you, Brett Favre was one of the best to ever do it, wouldn't you want the second-coming of him?  I know I sure as hell do!  Also, The Eagles organization took a chance in trading up to draft Wentz because of the way he played in college, Gun-slinging.  Why would the Eagles take the Gun-slinger out of a guy who was successful being one?
• Wentz is the future of this team: We came into this season not expecting much and so far the team and Wentz has been out-performing expectations.  I want to see this team do well this year, but I know this team getting to the Super Bowl and winning is near impossible.  With that being said, I want to see Wentz grow the best way he can as his track record leading to the NFL speaks to himself and I want to see the Eagles build the rest of this team up to match the play and talent of Carson Wentz.  So if his Gun-slinger mentality brings mistakes this year its not the end of the world because he will fix them and he will grow into a Franchise NFL Quarterback leading this team into many victories in the future!

 

 

Eagles 2nd Loss in a Row Drawing Concern

Wentz being sacked by Redskins DE Ryan Kerrigan. Image Courtesy: NBC10.com

      The Philadelphia Eagles and their fans came off of last week's disappointing loss to the Detroit Lions hopeful as their 2nd half comeback in that game fell just short due to a Ryan Mathews fumble in the last 2 minutes.  So the thinking going into Sunday's game against the Washington Redskins was that the team would right their wrongs, shake off their bye week rust, and play with a chip on their shoulder...WRONG!  If not for a Wendell Smallwood kick-off return touchdown and a Malcolm Jenkins Pick 6 in the first half the final score of this game would've been very lopsided in Washington's favor as they surprisingly lost a close one, 27-20. 

      The first three weeks of the season we saw three well coached games with players being held accountable, available, and executing.  On the flip side, in the last two weeks we have seen awful execution, lack of accountability, and an egregious amount of penalties.  Penalties the last two weeks have played an integral part in the teams losing ways.  In the past two games the Eagles have committed 27 penalties for 225 yards and they are now on a record breaking pace for penalties in a season, not good!  Don't get me wrong, the NFL is getting flag-friendly, throwing excessive amounts of penalties left and right and some of them in the past two weeks against the Eagles have been egregious, but this team right now is shooting themselves in the foot by committing poor penalties, showing a lack of discipline.  As to no surprise, penalties and game planning have gone hand-in-hand during this losing streak.  It's simple, when a team is playing poor there is a much better chance they will commit penalties as they play with their back against the wall.  As much as they players are not executing and are committing penalties, the coaching staff deserves just as much of the blame for not having their players better disciplined.

      Another issue that has reared its ugly head is players not being available.  In particular RT Lane Johnson, who is now in the midst of serving a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL's Drug Policy for the 2nd time in his career, has been a horrific blow to an Offensive line that was playing surprisingly well this season.  Eagles 5th-Round draft pick in this past springs NFL Draft, RT Halapoulivaati Vaitai (Big V), got his first career start against the Redskins on Sunday getting destroyed by their defensive line.  Now, I can't fully blame him as this was his first game and he didn't have much help and he is a 5th-round draft pick, meaning he's not looked at as an elite player who is ready to jump right into the NFL.  The problem I have here falls on the coaching staff because as I said they did not provide him with much help.  Myself and many others thought going into Sunday the Eagles would've line up the tight ends next to Vaitai to help chip off Washington's pass rushers to give QB Carson Wentz more time to make plays...WRONG!  It was evident on the first play of the game for the Eagles offense as Big V was lined up by himself against Skins DE Ryan Kerrigan who completely blew up Big V and sacked/ripped Wentz's jersey.  The trend continued throughout the game which had me especially frustrated that veteran TE Brent Celek was not out there next to Big V as he only played on 13 snaps the whole game, which I can only blame Head Coach Doug Pederson and the rest of his offensive coaching staff.

      I could continue to go on and on and on about all of the mistakes the players are making on the field, such as receivers not running the correct routes/dropping the ball, or both offensive and defensive lines committing awful penalties, or the linebackers and defensive backs missing tackles, but I'm not going to do that because it is a continuing trend that we are seeing every week and we know what they are doing wrong by now.  What I and many others across Philadelphia would like to know is who, what, when, where, why, and how are they going to fix these issues?  All of our expectations arose after the Eagles 3-0 start, including their Week 3 win at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers, rightfully so, but the flaws we saw before the season are now showing up and after two bad games there seems to be no sign of growing or improvement.  This season is a process and we did not expect them to start as well as they did, but now there is a hunger for more, especially from the fans.  To me Doug Pederson has a lot to prove this season, as all eyes will be on him and how this team either progresses or regresses, so for his sake and ours I hope he can get to his players and make the best of the rest of the season, because as we all know this city can turn on you very quickly.

P.S. - I blame almost nothing on QB Carson Wentz because he is the GOAT and he is the main reason why the team still has a chance to win these games even when they are playing awful!

Flyers Future Bright with Konecny & Provorov

Koenecny (Right) & Provorov (Left): Images Courtesy of Philly.com

• The Philadelphia Flyers begin their 2016-17 campaign tonight on the road against the Los Angeles Kings with the future looking bright!  The Flyers have decided to bring up two 19 Year-old's, Left Winger Travis Konecny and Defenseman Ivan Provorov, to start the season for the first time since 1984(Peter Zezel and Derrick Smith). Konecny and Provorov are only two of a group of sought-after Flyers prospects drafted by Former Flyers Goalie and current General Manager Ron Hextall that have the city excited for the future of this team.  Even though the Flyers made the playoffs last year after a horrific start this team is still in the middle of a rebuild.  

• Travis Konecny will be joining the likes of Veteran Forwards Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek, and Brayden Schenn.  There is definitely a good amount of talent spread throughout the Flyers front line's, but they do not have that constant scorer who they can rely on.  For example Captain Claude Giroux, who a couple years ago was regarded as one of the best players in the world, can do almost everything as he is a great all-around player but when it comes to scoring it is hard to rely on him as he is very streaky when it comes to putting the puck in the back of the net.  The hope here is that Konecny will provide a scoring youth movement for this team and give players such as Giroux a chance to thrive and see their potential.

• In 183 Games over 3 seasons in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League) for the Ottawa 67's and Sarnia Sting, Travis Konecny scored 85 Goals and tallied 154 Assists totaling 239 Points.

• Ivan Provorov is actually joining, what in my opinion is the bright spot of the team, the Defense.  Provorov will be bringing star power to a unit that already has a star in last year's Rookie Phenom Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere who brought on the beginning of the rebuild and the youth movement.  Gostisbehere and Provorov are somewhat of a new kind of Defenseman that is forming in the NHL, hybrid defensive scorers.  Provorov almost plays the position as if he were a Forward, who can score goals and can stick-handle the puck with the best of them.  To really get a good grasp for the kind of game Provorov plays just go on Youtube and look up Provorov's highlights and you will understand!

• In Two seasons (122 games), with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL (Western Hockey League) Ivan Provorov scored 36 Goals and 98 Assists tallying 134 Points. 

• There is still talent that needs to grow and work its way up to the big time, as the Flyers still need to find another legitimate scorer and solidify the Goaltender position, but with all of that being said the future looks as bright as it did during the beginning of the Lindros era!  The Flyers organization has a lot to look forward to for the future and two of the biggest pieces will be getting prime time action tonight in Los Angeles.  Even though the game will be starting at 10:30 PM local time it is a must watch if you are a fan of this team!  

Below are highlight videos for Provorov and Konecny!

Ivan Provorov #9 Brandon Wheat Kings Highlights

Travis Konecny - Highlights 2013/14/15/16 


      

         

Eagles: Recovering From Loss to Lions

Carson Wentz Rolling to his Right on Sunday in loss to Lions.  Image Courtesy: http://billypenn.com

      After Ryan Mathews fumbled the football late in the 4th Quarter of Sunday's 23-24 loss to the Detroit Lions, I had to isolate my self in another room as I watched the Eagles lose the lead with a Lions FG and a Carson Wentz deep-ball interception on the first play of their last drive.  To very quickly summarize the game, since it's now Thursday and we have been through it over and over again 29 ways since Sunday, the Eagles came out flat after the Bye week in the first half and the Lions took advantage, while the Eagles comeback in the second half fell just short.  Little bit of good news, Rookie QB Carson Wentz had another good game, despite the late-game interception, which was poorly played by WR Nelson Agholor.  What I want to do today is point out what the Eagles did wrong last Sunday and how they can adjust this Sunday for a win against the Washington {Redskins}.

• Came Out Flat.  The Eagles as a whole came out flat on Sunday following their Bye week, as I mentioned before.  The good thing here is that there is only one bye week for each team in the NFL and the Eagles have gone though it, but there is always the possibility of a team coming out flat on any given Sunday.  From what I've read via Twitter, the Eagles have been very vocal and practicing with more energy this week.

• Pass Rush.  In the first half it seemed our defensive line was not getting after Lions QB Matthew Stafford.  Stafford, if given time can take advantage of a defense because of his cannon for an arm.  Against Washington's QB Kirk Cousins the Eagles defensive line will have to get after him because he is a perfect example of someone who when under pressure and will make mistakes.  Again, as mentioned earlier the defense came out in the second half and shut the whole Lions offense down.  If the Eagles play as they did in the second half last week then Sunday should be a success.

• PENALTIES!!! The Penalty bug decided to spring its ugly head for the first time on Sunday for this team.  I'm not saying the Eagles weren't committing penalties through the first 3 games of the season, but they were definitely a factor Sunday.  The Eagles committed 14 penalties for 111 yards, which was by far and away the worst they were this season.  Some penalties were questionable by the refs on Sunday, but some were just so fundamentally bad.  Eagles Center Jason Kelce had two delay of game penalties that were very detrimental to drives, as well as an awful holding penalty by RG Brandon Brooks when the runner had already passed the defender.  For the Eagles to be successful on Sunday in Washington they need to go back to playing smart football, which they had been doing for most of the season before last Sunday.

• Running Game.  RB Ryan Mathews was completely shut down against the Steelers two weeks ago, so RB's Darren Sproles, Kenjon Barner, and Wendell Smallwood took on the workload and were successful, especially the Rookie Smallwood.  This past Sunday on the other hand was not the case, except for change of pace back Darren Sproles who was rather effective.  Barner and Smallwood were barely used at all and I believe the coaching staff made a mistake in not using Smallwood especially because if a Rookie has a good game you have to continue to feed him the ball with his new found momentum to see what you have going forward.  I expect to see Smallwood get more reps this week against Washington.

• Linebacker Play.  Lions RB Theo Riddick ran wild in the first half , like he did last year on Thanksgiving, catching two TD's out of the backfield in large part to the terrible matchup of Riddick vs Eagles LB Mychal Kendricks.  I am not sure what Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz was thinking have Kendricks and Stephen Tulloch play a good amount in the first half when LB's Jordan Hicks and Nigel Bradham have been two of the best pass defending LB's in the league so far this season.   Hopefully Schwartz will go back to Bradham and Kendricks playing the majority of the snaps as they did in the second half this past Sunday.  I'm thinking Schwartz just had a lapse in judgement and overthought his game plan against his former team.

• Game Planning.  Just like the team came out flat in the first half, I believe the coaching staff did as well.  Head Coach Doug Pederson needed to get his guys better prepared coming off the Bye, but since he is a first year Head Coach I will hope he will use this past Sunday as a learning experience.  DC Jim Schwartz needs to not worry about matchups and go with the best players who belong on the field because that is how he had been so successful.  The Eagles seemed to have gotten ahead of themselves on Sunday and tried to do things differently then they had been, which I believe was their downfall.  If the Eagles go back to the football they played the first 3 weeks of the season they will be fine against the defending NFC East Champs.

Go Birds! #FlyEaglesFly

Simmons Injury, Where Do Sixers Go From Here?

Simmons Injury

Image Courtesy: bleacherreport.com

• Unless you are a sports fan who has been living under a rock, you know that the Philadelphia 76ers are now expecting to start the first 3 months of the NBA season without #1 Overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Ben Simmons.  Early Friday afternoon, on the Final day of Sixers training camp at Stockton University in Galloway NJ, Simmons jumped up for a rebound in the teams final scrimmage of the day, but in doing so Simmons' right foot landed on teammate Shawn Long's foot causing him to roll his ankle leading to injury.  Word quickly got out on twitter via eye-witness Sixers reporters and the entire fan base began to panic, but the preliminary word was that Simmons was going to get "precautionary imaging" taken on his foot.  With such wording it was believed by many that it was just a light sprain and the organization would be careful with him in the preseason, but then a bomb dropped later in the day as the the team announced that Simmons actually fractured his right foot.

• As the weekend went along, slowly but surely, details would trickle out about the severity of Ben's foot and how long the rookie would be sidelined.  As I am typing this on Monday October 3rd, 2016 Ben Simmons has a Jones fracture on the 5th Metatarsal of his right foot and the team is looking to be without the rookie for the first three months of the season as he is to getting surgery later this week to repair the issue.  Originally when the fracture was announced there were rumors that it was an avulsion fracture (less severe) and not a Jones fracture, but unfortunately it has been confirmed by many sources that the fracture is the latter of the two.  It seems as if whether the fracture was avulsion or Jones the recovery time would be pretty similary, but the issue with it being a Jones fracture is the chance of re-fracturing the foot is greater and will have to be even more closely monitored.  Some believe the Sixers will be overly cautious with Simmons, which I do believe to be true, but some believe he should be sidelined for the entire season, which I think is bonkers...we'll see what happens.

Sixers Moving Forward

Image Courtesy: newsreportcenter.com

• With or without Ben Simmons there is a log jam at the Forward and Center positions in regards to this team.  Simmons stands at 6'10" and has the skills of a Point Guard, but a 6'10" Point Guard in the NBA is still considered unconventional, so had he been healthy he would have been taking minutes away from some of the other big men on this roster.  Don't get me wrong, we would all love to surrender another players minutes to have Simmons on the court as he is considered one of the best prospects since LeBron James, but I am looking at the glass half full in this instance and saying that getting more of our prized big men on the court can be beneficial for this team moving forward.  This upcoming NBA season is not expected to have the Sixers as a legitimate contender for the NBA Title, so the loss of Simmons now is unfortunate, but it can let the others grow and as Simmons will just be half a season late to the game.  

• In the mean time, the Sixers log jam at Forward/Center consists of Joel Embiid(7'2", 3rd Overall pick in 2014 Draft), Dario Saric(6'10", 12th Overall pick in 2014 Draft), Jahlil Okafor(6'11", 3rd Overall pick in 2015 Draft), and Nerlens Noel(6'11", 6th Overall pick in 2013 Draft).  Embiid(coming off injury) and Saric(coming over from Croatia) will be making their NBA debut's in tomorrow nights first preseason game against the Celtics.  

• Joel Embiid - If Embiid did not have injury concerns and played up to even half of his potential I would lock him in as the every night starting Center right now, but with missing the first two years of a career, no matter who it is, with injuries, you can not consider anything a sure thing.  Joel Embiid in his short career at Kansas showed he can play well on both sides of the ball but has an edge on offense with an amazing shot for a guy standing 7'2".  I do eventually think if Embiid can survive his first full season in the NBA, in which he will not play every night, he is the far and away front runner to be the teams starting Center for many years to come so I do not have questions of talent with him.

• Dario Saric - I actually believe Saric (unfortunately) benefits from the Simmons injury as the two have been compared to each other as having very similar playing styles.  Saric is more of a hard-working facilitator than a natural shooter/scorer but he does have a very nice shot, especially from the outside.  I do believe that Dario Saric will shift some of his focus more to shooting where he and Guard/Foward Robert Covington will eventually provide a 3-point threat beyond the arc for the Sixers generating more offense.

• Nerlen Noel - When it comes to an offensive presence, Noel is the odd man out as the others all have skills that he lacks, but Noel may be the best player far and away on defense (depending on how Embiid can transition to the NBA defensively).  I have always been a fan of Noel's because of what he can do on defense and how fast he plays the game, a quality that Head Coach Brett Brown likes in his players.  Though all of a sudden it seems that Noel is talking his way out of town, making it publicly known that he believes the team having so many big men on the roster is "silly" and that a move should've been made by now.  Part of me can somewhat understand why he is frustrated, he is on the final year of his deal and he wants to be on the court as much as possible so another team will give him a lucrative contract, but he has to realize talking disrespectfully about the organization could be detrimental to his next contract where ever he ends up because it shows bad character.  All-in-all this Simmons injury gets Noel more time on the court to start the season so he should not be complaining anymore.  I just hope that if and when Noel is not here anymore they can find a player who can rebound and defend as well as he can, but his skills today are starting to become rare.

• Jahlil Okafor - Okafor to me is a player who has good footwork his size and can put up numbers down low by putting the ball in the basket, but what worries me is that he is a liability on defense, plays at a much slower pace than the rest of the big men on this team, and does not use his frame as well as he should to grab rebounds.  In the Nerlens Noel vs Jahlil Okafor debate I have always been on the Noel side due to his defense and rebounding, because I knew once the process came together this team would have plenty of offensive players and Noel would make up for the lack of defense on this team.  I theoretically am still on the side for keeping Noel over Okafor but logistically it makes more sense to keep Okafor.  Noel is a free agent at the end of this season and could walk away, where Okafor can still be possibly controlled by the team for the next four years.  Okafor can also be the offensive replacement for Joel when he can't play at times this season and next or dare I say Embiid's injuries continue to linger.  I have grown to the thought of Noel leaving before Okafor and am okay with it for the time being, and I can see Okafor having a bigger impact later in the season with Simmons eventually facilitating the ball down low to him when he returns.

#TrustTheProcess

Eagles Stun Steelers in Battle of Pennsylvania

Wentz/Roethlisberger Post Game. Image Courtesy: http://www.inforum.com/sports/4122902-wentz-eagles-remain-unbeaten-shredding-steelers

The Philadelphia Eagles are 3-0 after Demoralizing the Pittsburgh Steelers...Yes, you read that correctly. 

 

• Not only were the Steelers and the National media shocked at the outcome of Sunday's game, but most of the fan base in Philadelphia was in shock as well at how lopsided this victory was for the Eagles, I myself included.  On my friend Keith Smallwood's podcast for The Small Ball Lineup, I predicted the Steelers just edging out the Eagles in a close 28-27 win and boy was I wrong.  The Steelers are usually a Super Bowl contender year-in and year-out and this year has not been much different but on Sunday the Philadelphia Eagles made you think otherwise.  Both the Offense and Defense for the Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Steelers and Eagles QB Carson Wentz continued to turn the NFL upside down with his terrific play!

• Carson "Can't Miss" Wentz was back at it again on Sunday as class was in session for the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.  The rookie QB went 21-31 throwing for 302 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, with a QB Rating of 125.9 and 10 yards rushing.  The Legend of Carson continues as he turns in outstanding performance after outstanding performance.  It seems as if the kid gets better from week-to-week as the competition has gotten better.   Fans of the Eagles and across the NFL who are tuned-in to this team have been waiting for him to make a real rookie mistake that shows he is human and in 3 games that has not happened yet.  The Eagles offense has not surrendered a turnover and that in large part is due to Wentz's play.  Now don't worry, I have not completely lost my mind...yet!  It is only 3 games into the season, and Wentz is still young, and there will be growing pains, but many have expected to see that sooner and that is what is so surprising.  More than just his in-game play, which I could go on forever about, his command and leadership of men on the field has been outstanding.   
• One example to show his trust and maturity with his teammates is a sequence of two plays he had with WR Dorial Green-Beckham.  DGB dropped a perfect pass from Wentz that went right through his hands that he should have caught, but instead of Wentz showing frustration towards DGB, Wentz welcomed the WR back to huddle with open arms, gave him a pat on the back and said let's go.  The Next play Wentz went back to Green-Beckham across the middle of the field for a long first down reception moving the ball passed midfield, continuing a drive that would eventually lead to a TD.

• The Offense as a whole played fantastic, by far the best game of the short season.  The offensive line played as a cohesive unit not giving up a single sack keeping Wentz upright for the entire game against a stout Steelers Front-7 (Defensive linemen and Linebackers) that could not get much pressure on the QB.  Wentz was able to spread the ball around through the air to his WR's, TE's, and RB's with ease all day.  WR Jordan Matthews had a relatively quite game with 2 receptions for 19 yards but one of them was for one of Wentz's 2 Touchdown passes.  The other TD was quite a remarkable play, improv from both Wentz and RB Darren Sproles(6 receptions, 128 yards, 1 TD) on the fly.  On 3rd and 8 early in the 3rd Quarter, Wentz was blitzed from the Steelers D up the middle and from his blindside so he side-stepped the rush, rolled out to his right and hit Sproles, who saw the play break down and took off down field as Wentz rolled out, about 10-15 yards downfield where Sproles used his speed to dash through the entire Steelers defensive backfield to score on a 73 yard pass reception.  Carson Wentz in 3 games has gotten very comfortable with his 3 Tight End's so far in Zach Ertz(Did Not Play; dislocated rib), veteran Brent Celek and Trey Burton.  Celek and Burton so far have not only done a good job blocking for Wentz but have been a nice security blanket for Wentz, especially in Sunday's game combining for 5 receptions for 80 yards (61 of those Celek's).  There was one small issue towards the beginning of the game and it involved RB Ryan Mathews, who has been known to be injury prone in his career.  After his 2 TD performance in Chicago last Monday Night Mathews was stuffed in the backfield on his only 2 carries for -5 yards, we would later find out he was having issues with his ankle.  In Mathews' place RB Wendell Smallwood slashed through the Pittsburgh defense on 17 carries for 79 yards and 1 TD which mostly came in the second half but before the game got out of hand.  3rd-year RB Kenjon Barner also provided a TD on 8 carries for 42 yards as the change-of-pace back.

• The Defense through 3 weeks has been playing like a solidified Top-5 defense in the entire NFL giving up the least amount of points.  Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz is really a defensive guru, because wherever he goes he is usually able to get the most out of all his players.  This entire defense has bought into the 4-3/Wide 9 scheme that Schwartz has taught and it shows with every player always being in the position they are supposed to be.  Also the defense, who in the past has been known for missing takcles under Chip Kelly and Billy Davis, has been making every tackle not letting opposing offenses take advantage of them.  Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger was frustrated all day not being able to do much.  The only somewhat bright spot for the Steelers was All-Pro WR Antonio Brown who caught 9 balls for 102 yards but was not able to find the endzone.  RB Deangelo Williams who lead the NFL in rushing the first two weeks of the season was shut down and held to 21 yards on 8 carries as they played from behind all game.  A complete team effort by the defense was highlighted by Eagles Defensive Tackle Fletcher Cox who had 2 sacks and a forced fumble of Roethlisberg, Defensive Tackle Bennie Logan who had a blocked FG and a sack, and Defensive End Brandon Graham who had a sack and the fumble recovery that was forced by Cox.  The Defensive backfield faced a large test against Roethlisberger and the skilled and speedy receivers of the Steelers and they passed with flying colors.  Safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod were fantastic by providing help over top of the cornerbacks, who also had a solid day as a unity, and were making tackles towards the line of schrimmage.  Jenkins did a great job tackling and was also spying on Pitt WR Antonio Brown all day holding him in check, while McLeod wrestled away a late game interception.

• Special Teams has played as well as they have for the past 3-4 seasons since ST Coordinator Dave Fipp had arrived in Philadelphia.  As I mentioned before DT Bennie Logan blocked an early Field Goal attempt by the Steelers setting the tone of momentum for the Eagles.  On top of that Punter Donnie Jones and the rest of the punt coverage team was able to pin the Steelers deep on their own side of the field throughout the game.  The same can be said for the Kick coverage unit as they were able to hold the Steelers starting field position behind the touchback mark of the 25 yard line.  Just another solid day for the Special Teams unit as a whole!

• The Coaches had an almost perfect game plan for all 3 phases of the game as the Eagles dominated a hard to dominate team in the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I have already gushed about the coaching of DC Jim Schwartz and STC Dave Fipp but now I will shortly discuss the impact of Head Coach Doug Pederson, Offensive Coordinator Frank Reich, and QB Coach John Defilipo since I spent so much time earlier discussing Wentz and the offense.  To start off credit goes to Owner Jeffrey Lurie and General Manager Howie Roseman for trusting that Pederson, Reich, and Defilipo would be able to coach up Rookie QB Carson Wentz and making the moves to get the North Dakota Gun-slinger.  OC Frank Reich and QB coach John Defilipo have been major aids to first time play caller in Doug Pederson and I don't know if this team is doing as well as it is if it was not a collaborative effort between the three offensive minds.  Now Dougie P through 3 games has called 3 of the best coached Eagles games(in a row) I've seen since former Head Coach Andy Reid did in the 2004 season with McNabb and Owens.  It is truly incredible how we have been able to watch the transformation of Doug Pederson in less than a year, because when the Eagles hired Pederson this offseason I thought we were doomed and in pretty quick fashion he is proving the haters (as I've said including myself) wrong.  I can keep going on but I'll save that as this team hopefully gets better, but as a former Eagle and NFL QB Vince Young once said "Doug P (ha-ha) very special guy".  The one area I do hope Pederson and staff can adjust to is with is the fact the team will probably lose All-Pro Right Tackle Lane Johnson after this bye-week to suspension for 10 games.  That will be determined in the near future, but until then Eagles fans continue to enjoy these wins and the fact that we finally have OUR QUARTERBACK!!!

Go Birds and #FlyEaglesFly